BILL NUMBER: SJR 32	CHAPTERED  08/25/00

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER   117
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   AUGUST 25, 2000
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 18, 2000
	ADOPTED IN SENATE   JUNE 22, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 19, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Haynes
   (Principal coauthor:  Assembly Member Pescetti)
   (Coauthors:  Senators Costa and Morrow)
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Aanestad, Ackerman, Baldwin, Battin,
Baugh, Brewer, Campbell, Cox, Cunneen, House, Kaloogian, and Leach)

                        JUNE 5, 2000

   Senate Joint Resolution No. 32--Relative to repeal of the
telephone tax.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SJR 32, Haynes.  Telephone Tax Repeal.
   This measure would urge the United States Senate to swiftly pass,
and the President to sign, the Phone Tax Repeal Act.




   WHEREAS, The United States House of Representatives passed HR
3916, jointly authored by Representatives Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and
Robert Matsui (D-California), on an overwhelming vote of 420-2 on May
25, 2000; and
   WHEREAS, HR 3916 would repeal the 3-percent federal excise tax on
telephone service, a tax which was started in 1898 to finance the
Spanish-American War; and
   WHEREAS, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and House Minority Leader
Richard Gephardt both praised the repeal of this tax; and
   WHEREAS, The federal excise tax on telephone calls originated as a
luxury tax, as telephones were considered a luxury 102 years ago;
and
   WHEREAS, Telephones are no longer a luxury, but a necessity, as 94
percent of American households have telephone service; and
   WHEREAS, The federal excise tax on telephones is a regressive tax,
as it takes a higher percentage of household income from low-income
telephone users; and
   WHEREAS, The federal excise tax on telephones costs consumers and
businesses $5 billion dollars annually; and
   WHEREAS, Elimination of the "digital divide," which hinders
lower-income people from gaining access to the Internet, should be a
major goal of our society to help educate 21st Century America; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate and Assembly of the State of California,
jointly, That the California Legislature commends the House of
Representatives for passing HR 3916, the Phone Tax Repeal Act; and be
it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature, urges the United States Senate to
swiftly pass the Phone Tax Repeal Act; and be it further
   Resolved, That the California State Legislature urges President
William Jefferson Clinton to actively support and sign legislation
which would repeal the 3-percent federal excise tax on telephone
services; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States,
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of
the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the Senate, the
Minority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States.
